


Logic and Trickster - Act 5

by Logic_and_Trickster



Series: The Phantom Thieves Meet Phoenix Wright - Logic and Trickster [6]
Category: Persona 5, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Logic_and_Trickster/pseuds/Logic_and_Trickster
Summary: The struggle intensifies as Phoenix and Maya do their best work at the crime scene to be fully prepared for tomorrow's trial. Everything is resting on them, otherwise the investigation to this conspiracy may end before it truly begins. Akira finds himself waking up within the newest form of the Velvet Room--a form altered and distorted by the sheer overwhelming power and influence of their unknown foe. From here, we experience the first of many "performances" atop the stage of the theater that the Velvet Room has become. Though the figures are hazy and the voices are indiscernible, Akira can be sure that he has just gotten his first glimpse at the true villains.
Series: The Phantom Thieves Meet Phoenix Wright - Logic and Trickster [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612450
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 5-1: The Scene of the Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya know for certain that their client did indeed break into the Sniffsonian Museum. What's worse, is they know that Mask☆DeMasque did the very same thing. However, neither person would have killed anyone. With the true culprit of a murder still a mystery, these two may need to go about finding some truths of what happened... while hiding others. This will be the most complicated trial yet for our heroes.

_April 12th, 8:57 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Entrance_

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Core 2002 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFy7msnqqX4)\---

Well... here we are again. Standing outside of the Sniffsonian Museum after what has happened has given the entire building a slightly different feeling. Needing to obtain the Orb of Heart was one thing, sure, but visiting a crime scene to investigate a murder... well, that's a sensation I'm a bit more familiar with. This is the kind of tension Maya and I are used to. The two of us have our game faces on as we prepare to enter the front lobby and head towards the atrium.

I feel a vibration in my pocket and notice that I've gotten a text.

Alibaba: Did you receive the new phone? I wanted to make sure Sae Niijima was able to deliver it to you last night.

Phoenix: I did, thanks!

Alibaba: I hope it is to your liking.

Phoenix: It will take some getting used to, but I certainly appreciate you going to the lengths of getting me a new one.

Alibaba: You're welcome. It's the least we can do for you, given you are going to be defending Akira.

Phoenix: Well, now that I'm on a first name basis with your leader, when do I get to meet the rest of you?

Alibaba: We will certainly be sitting in the gallery at the trial. Once this situation is dealt with, I believe it will be an appropriate time for formal introductions and getting back to the Orb situation.

Phoenix: Alright. Sounds like a plan.

Maya's voice wrangles my attention back from my phone screen. "Hey, Nick, here comes Miss Niijima!" she tells me

Sure enough, I can see her cross under the police tape which has been set up along the perimeter of the establishment. She shows her attorney badge to an officer, who allows her to enter the area, and she approaches us with a smile which exudes a "good morning" greeting.

"So, Mr. Wright, Miss Fey, I do have some information to share with you two," she starts, getting right to the point, "I did some research to find out more about the victim of this murder."

"The more information, the better!" Maya nods, "We still don't have a clue what actually happened here last night!"

"I understand the basics of it," Sae explains, "What is known so far is that Austin Translation, an American politician, was murdered here last night. The remains of a statue are all around him and he has wounds all over, so the most likely explanation is that the statue was pushed onto him by the murderer."

"And what was this gentleman doing here after closing in the first place?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Sae shakes her head. "No one is sure at this moment in time."

"Just one more thing on the list of many mysteries that need solving if we want to win this case," Maya sighs.

I chuckle. "Well, at the very least, your timing is good, Miss Niijima. The police look like they are finishing up, so now's our chance to check the scene for ourselves."

\---(Music End)---

_April 12th, 9:06 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Atrium_

The area is cleared out now that local law enforcement have done their thing. We even catch Detective Ritsu on his way out. "Good morning, Niijima-san! And good morning to you as well, Mr. Wright and Miss Maya!"

I return the greeting. "It's good to see you again, detective."

"So, which one of you took Kurusu-san's case?" he asks, "One of you must have, if you're here to once-over the crime scene."

"I did," I reply back, "Though Niijima-san will be assisting me as co-counsel."

"I have to say, you've made quite an impression on me, Mr. Wright," Ritsu compliments, "I thought you were on vacation here, but you've been doing nothing but working on cases and investigations these last few days. You sure are dedicated."

"I thought it was a vacation, too," Maya snickers, "But as we've found out, crime doesn't take days off so we can't either."

"By the by," Ritsu continues, "I've been thinking a lot about everything going on lately. And there are just a few too many uncanny connections for it to all be a coincidence."

\---Music: [ Ray ~ A Beam of Light ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szZaAL_B2HQ)\---

"Er... what do you mean?" I ask innocuously. 

"That hard drive we found at Akechi-san's place really started connecting the dots for me. The interest in personality changes, doing research into the Metaverse... and now, here you are again, and this time you're standing up in court for the former leader of the Phantom Thieves..."

Uh oh. I don't like where this is going. What's he trying to get at? I'm getting a cold shiver as he narrows his eyes slightly while staring at me.

\---(Music End)---

One of his narrowed eyes turns into a friendly wink. "... But I know how to keep a secret, at least. So, even if you guys are, hypothetically, Phantom Thieves yourselves, you can trust that I won't bring it up again. I recognize that now's not the time or the place, anyway."

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Middle 2002 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoSvpcI5Ur4)\---

Whoa... that was weird. For a moment there, I feel like all three of us froze in panic in response to detective Ritsu. This guy may not look all that out of the ordinary, but he's sharp. Though, I suppose with how much we've been through lately, it would be hard not to start asking questions and doing digging. 

We're still a little speechless, so the detective just continues on. "That being said... I feel a bit involved at this point. Once this trial situation is wrapped up..." he begins, turning his head both ways as if he's cautious of being overheard, "... Would you mind filling me in on what's actually going on with all of this Metaverse stuff? I want to help, too."

Maya's eyes are popping out of her head, a sight I see through my own eyes which are also popping out of MY head. She tries to collect herself but still maintains a high level of energy as she speaks. "Detective Ritsu, you want to help us?! Even knowing what we're looking into is dangerous?!"

Ritsu nods his head as if holding back excitement. "When we explored Akechi-san's apartment the other day, it felt like we were all in some sort of noir suspense movie! Braving perplexing puzzles and uncovering hidden secrets leading to the discovery of shocking truths... this thrill is the reason I became a detective! I've always dreamed of solving larger than life mysteries."

Sae seems rather composed now, as she thinks quietly with her eyes closed. "I've known you for quite a while now... and I feel like I somehow expected to hear something like this out of you eventually."

"I'll take that as a compliment?" Ritsu blinks, a little unsure of himself.

Well, apparently there is a lot more to detective Ritsu than meets the eye. This is an interesting development, and the state of this entire investigation may have just changed. But, he's right that it's neither the time nor the place. We have more immediate matters to deal with. "Detective, we'll definitely have a talk after this trial is over. But, for now, we need to get headed over to where the murder took place."

"I totally understand," he replies as he points his finger to the side, "You're going to want to check over there to that corner of the room."

Sure enough, I can see where he's pointing at, and can make out the taped outline of a body on the ground. 

Maya speaks up. "Hey, detective Ritsu, if you like solving mysteries, why not stick around and lending us a hand?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to," he smiles, "Let me start by giving you a few things to help you out."

The first things detective Ritsu hands me are two **Crime Scene Photographs**.

\---Music: [ Strange People (Gyakuten Kenji 2) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy81E35S5U4)\---

Maya recognizes the person in the photo as quickly as I do. "Hey, Nick, isn't that...?"

"That'd definitely the **Mysterious Man** we ran into," I agree, "The one who was looking for the curator!"

"His name is Austin Translation," Ritsu clarifies, "He's from the United States, like you two. He's in Japan as an ambassador. Or, was, rather."

"Uh oh... that sounds important," Maya responds, her voice sounding unsettled.

"Gossip is spreading around the station," Ritsu adds, "And there's rumors that they are getting American officials involved. They may be sending over a professional team to investigate. Though, I'm not sure what good it would do, the trial is tomorrow morning."

"Well, everything falls on us to check out the crime scene then!" Maya says with energy as she pumps her fists, though her display of passion gives way to a brief laugh. "Though, what else is new?"

I update the profile in my records. We now know that the mysterious individual from yesterday is in fact the man who was murdered, **Austin Translation**.

Well, now it's time to analyze the pictures themselves. The first photo displays the body and the scene of the murder as the police first saw it. I make sure and inspect the photograph carefully to notice all of the important details.

\---Music: [ Trance Logic ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAlNCtwBX6E)\---

Austin is laying flat on his stomach with his arms and legs stretched out in strange ways. It's impossible to miss the fact that chunks of stone of various shapes and sizes are all around him, some of which have been damaged so much it's like they were crushed into dust. A statue definitely fell on this man, and the extent of the damage to the statue leaves it unclear what it must have originally been. What is clear is that his legs in particular have been crushed completely. From the positioning of the shards, it seems like the statue fell horizontally and onto his lower body, specifically. There's a large platform with wheels overturned on it's side near the base of what would have been the statue. I assume that platform was used to move the statue since it was, evidently, extremely heavy.

"How is it so much of the stone from the statue is flat out disintegrated?" I ask, "I can see that some of the chunks are still intact, but some have been ground down to literal powder."

"We're thinking foul play on that one," Ritsu considers, "The only real explanation is that someone tampered with some parts of the statue. Could have been for any reason, my bet's on to not leave any fingerprints. Either way, it's clear someone took a hammer to some of these chunks and didn't leave much after they were finished."

"So we know it was a stone statue that dropped on top of him," Maya reiterates, "But why are there chunks and splinters of wood?"

Sure enough, wood is shattered around the crime scene.

Ritsu scratches his chin. "We think there may have been a struggle, because those shards are what's left of an easel which had been displaying a painting. Either Austin or the killer must have broken it at some point while fighting. And that easel is pretty important, too... just check the second photograph I gave you."

*!*

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Core 2002 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFy7msnqqX4)\---

The second photo is more gruesome than the first. It's a picture of Austin's body on a stretcher, laying on his back. His legs are mangled beyond repair, and the coat and shirt around the middle of his body are dyed red with blood. "Yikes..." I gasp, "Is all that blood from being crushed?"

Ritsu shakes his head. "I'll just go ahead and let you take a look at the autopsy report."

I put away the **Crime Scene Photographs** in my evidence, and take the **Autopsy Report**.

_Time of Death: Between 9:10 pm and 9:20 pm_

_Cause of Death: Uncertain._

_-Severe trauma to the head; skull was fractured_

_-Large puncture wound to the abdomen; a sharp piece of wood was found_

_-Intense body-wide blunt trauma; front of body was bruised and both legs were completely crushed_

"Yeesh..." Maya comments, clearly squeamish, "It's awful that he died, but I sure hope whatever killed him at least made it quick. I can't imagine what kind of pain surviving ANY of those things would be like..."

"This is... strange, for sure," Sae speaks with concentration, "Usually the analysts are pretty spot on with exact cause of death."

Ritsu cringes as if he himself were in pain. "I guess we have to assume most if not all of these injuries happened at around the same time. If you ask me, personally... my theory would be that since one of the easels was broken, he was in some kind of fight last night, and either accidentally or intentionally got stabbed by one of the wooden shards from the broken easel."

"Wait," I interject, "Wouldn't it make more sense that both he and the statue just fell on top of the easel and one of the pieces of wood stabbed him while it broke?"

"Well, the painting that was originally on the easel was found a little bit away from the location of the murder. It isn't clear if the easel was moved from somewhere else or what, but there are shards of it scattered all around the area. We truthfully don't know WHERE the easel was at the time."

Something about that seems off to me, but I can't really figure out what.

"At some point after that, the statue was pushed over, clonked him on the head and did him in, and then landed on top of the corpse," Ritsu sighs depressingly. "Man, what a way to go..."

I add the **Autopsy Report** to my evidence as well. I know I'll be needing it in court, later.

\---(Music End)---

Time to move on to the next subject of concern. "I had a question, detective. Where is the curator in all of this?"

"You mean Hibiki-san?" Ritsu clarifies, "We found him at the museum as well, the security guard claims to have called the curator to the scene upon witnessing what happened. We're trying to figure out what he was doing that night, and if he has any relationship to the victim at all."

Maya and I look at each other uneasily. Austin Translation was specifically looking for Hebi Hibiki... that can't be a coincidence. "Where is he now?" I ask.

"He's being questioned right now down at the station," Ritsu explains.

That's good. If he isn't around, then no one will be in the office and we're free to investigate up there, as well. "Alright. I was just curious. Thanks for that info."

There's a short moment of pause, and Ritsu seems to recognize we're nearing the end of this conversation. "There's _one_ last thing we found," Ritsu adds, sounding like he's ready to wrap up, "Translation-san had a phone on him last night. He was keeping it in his breast pocket. It's smashed really badly, but... well, we have what's left of it."

He holds up a plastic bag with pieces of what used to be a smart phone inside of it.

"A phone, eh?" Maya speaks inquisitively, "I bet that would have call records, or stored text messages, or maybe calendar alerts? It might tell us even a little bit about why he was here at the museum after closing last night."

"Hmm..." Sae hums, "Would you mind if I keep that evidence for a while? I actually know a friend who is very savvy with technology and she may be able to repair this. Or at least get the data out from it."

Ritsu shrugs amicably. "If you allow me to accompany you to that friend so I can supervise it and make sure it isn't being tampered with, I don't see a problem with that," he allows, before holding his fist up to his mouth and chuckling under his breath, "I was looking for an excuse to not have to go back to the station for paperwork, anyway."

Ritsu hands Sae the **Broken Phone**.

"Well, I'll leave the crime scene to you two, then," Sae announces, "I'll let you know if we make any progress on finding out what's stored on this phone."

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4CEqQO7Has)\---

"Good luck," I smile and wave as Sae and the detective make their leave. "Well, Maya, let's get down to business."

Out of the corner of my eye I see that she's holding some kind of small booklet. "They had these little guide books near the entrance of the atrium, I have a feeling the information inside may help us out. It's pretty long, though. Quite a few pages. How about I read through it while you do some inspecting? We'll keep each other updated."

"That works for me," I agree. While I do the physical investigating, Maya will be reading through the **Atrium Exhibit Guide**. I'll add it to my inventory later, if it becomes pertinent enough.

The area where the crime took place is near the edge of a large, roped off area that has a bunch of painter's easels which are holding various artwork. They are spaced evenly, and the taped outline of Austin Translation's body lays right on top of an area where, if my hunch is correct, an easel would have been. I think that because, though there are shards of wood everywhere, the bulk of it is right around where the body was. There are a lot of shattered and crushed remains of that easel, as well as the statue that killed the victim.

A distance away from the body outline, I see a piece of artwork... or, rather, "pieces" of artwork, as it is broken. It must be the painting originally on the easel. It's split diagonally, but I can easily piece together what it originally was. It's a very impressive piece of work, with very robust colors such as blacks, reds, and blues. The saturation of the dark colors give the viewer the impression of depth and meaning. However, the colors have been somewhat smeared and slightly faded.

I add **Destroyed Painting** to my evidence collection. It's near the crime scene, and we know that it was destroyed in the scuffle, so I have a feeling it could be important later.

"So, Maya, I can tell this area is for displaying a bunch of paintings. But what in particular is this area?" I ask.

Maya nods her head in response to me, and her eyes are still stuck on the pamphlet in front of her. "Page 1 is all about the ground floor, and it mentions this area is specific. It's a display for all of the former pupils of some guy named Madarame. 'Come see a brand new gallery of pieces from the honest and genuine talent behind the works Ichiryusai Madarame plagiarized! With the identities of the true artists made clear, some of the most famous works of our time have had their honor restored!'"

Hmm... well that doesn't seem right. Let's think about this for a moment. "Maya, does the book say anything about any of the artists in this display having submitted statues to the exhibit?"

"Hmm!" Maya hums as if I'm on to something, "It explicitly says that all of the pieces in this area are supposed to be paintings."

I think back to the wheeled platform in the picture, which I now see laying on its side in person. "Maya, any ideas on why this statue would have even been in this area in the first place?"

She takes a moment to observe our surroundings as well. "I don't know. I don't even know how they could have rolled it over into this area at all, the whole place is chained off and it would have blocked the statue from entering."

Hmm... where else could it have come from? I mean, it's not like it just fell out of the sky.

... Or did it?

I look up and get a look at the balconies above. Maybe...

"Hey, Maya, check it out. If you look at the area where the statue fell, it's not actually too far of a distance from the balcony railing up above."

She walks over to me and squints her eyes to look up herself. "Hey, you're right!" she nods with pep in her voice. "That metal guardrail looks really sturdy. If there was a statue up against it and you pushed hard enough... it would pivot right over the rail and fall right down!"

Bingo! "I think we're on to something here, Maya. The place where it landed fits perfectly with that theory! Does your book say what exhibits are on the other floors of the atrium balconies?"

Maya is already back into the booklet. "Well, we're on the ground floor, and page 2 has the first. The first floor iiisssss..."

\---Music: [ My Homie ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergzVAkszi8)\---

"Oh. The first floor is a statue gallery," she speaks with palpable embarrassment.

The two of us are quiet for a moment.

"'Take a walk through the finest sculpting in history in our statue gallery, spanning the entire first floor balcony!' is what it says," Maya elaborates.

"Well," I blink, "When you put it that way it's pretty obvious that the statue came from up above, huh."

"That makes things easy for us at least," Maya laughs, "Let's head up there, then!"

\---(Music End)---

_April 12th, 9:15 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Atrium First and Second Floor Balconies_

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4CEqQO7Has)\---

This is the same path we took to the curator's office originally. Back then, I wasn't paying attention to the exhibits or the layout. Now, however, I'm analyzing both with incredible detail.

Whoever drew the blueprints to this place clearly didn't do it with ergonomic efficiency in mind. Normally, stairs are all contained in relatively the same area--like a stairwell, or even just a continual path from the top floor to the ground floor. However, each staircase to each floor is separate, and in different areas. They aren't SUPER far apart, but... well, from the point where the stairs reach the first floor, there's a good length of a walk across the balcony to get to the base of the next staircase heading to the second floor.

Maya recognizes the impracticality of this as well. "Why couldn't they put the stairs all in one place?" she gripes.

I scratch my chin and try to find an answer myself. "Even the surrounding building has felt like that, not just he atrium. I guess the idea is that, this way, people have to pass by the exhibits and can't just rush through the museum."

"Or maybe whoever designed the place was a jerk and liked to mess with people..." Maya sighs with her shoulders and her facial expression equally slumped with fatigue.

Well, regardless, back to that matter at hand. "There are a ton of statues here," I recognize, "Easily dozens..."

"They practically line the entire balcony up here!" Maya adds, "And a lot of them are on top of platforms with wheels like the one below! I wonder why?"

"Hmm... I suppose the positions of the displays haven't been finalized yet?" I ponder, but then another thought hits me. "Actually, Maya... maybe the reason they are on easily movable platforms is so he can sell them off from his midnight market more easily."

With her palm against her chin she looks diagonally upward. "Y'know, I could see that being the case. But anyway! It's very clear the statue down there on the ground floor must have fallen from up here."

"And if it fell from up here... then someone had to have been up here to push it over the railing," I confirm gravely.

"But wasn't there a struggle down on the ground floor?" Maya reminds me, "What, do you think there might have been a third party?"

Now that's a route we haven't considered yet. "It's hard to say. That is one possibility," I consider, shaking my head while holding my forehead. "Sheesh... there's still so much about this crime we don't understand."

Maya sticks out her tongue with a pensive expression. "There's a lot of statues here... I guess we could start by looking for empty gaps where statues look like they might have been?"

"Well, before we touch anything," I call to her, taking out my phone, but she interjects to make a quick point.

"Well, we really shouldn't touch anything, anyway..." Maya mentions in response, "The tenth page of the Exhibit Guide has a bunch of rules on what not to do. 'Turn off flash photography, please,' 'Only museum staff may touch the art with specialized gloves,' and stuff like that."

"Hmm. Noted," I nod my head, "The destroyed painting we took we'll have to make an exception for. We'll be careful not to mess with anything _else_ while we're investigating. Either way, I'm going to take a picture of this area, just in case."

Maya shoots me a thumbs up, and begins scampering out of my line of sight so as to get out of the way of the picture. "Good call. Go for it!"

I snap as clear a photo as I can manage, framing the entire area directly above where the crime happened down below. With this first photo, I'll start a collection of **Balcony Photographs** to help keep track of the various other locations that may become relevant, which I'll be keeping in my evidence.

"So, the first issue to address here..." Maya starts us off, "Is there anything that could tell us which statue was pushed? Or, where that statue could have been?"

"You're right, the position would be important," I agree, "Say, if it were over against the wall and a long way from the edge of the balcony, it would have taken some serious time--and not to mention, uninterrupted effort--to move."

"I think this booklet has a list of all of the art pieces in the atrium!" Maya announces triumphantly.

Now there's some good news. "Does it list where each statue would be located, or show any maps or floor layouts?" I ask, expecting a favorable answer to my question, but it looks like Maya seems disappointed now. "What's wrong?"

"There's a list, yeah..." Maya speaks with a downtrodden disposition, "But it's all in alphabetical order. It doesn't say anything about where they are, or in this case where the smashed statue would have been..."

That makes this a bit tougher. "Are there at least pictures of the statues and what they look like?" I ask.

"Yes, I see a ton of photographs. Of each one, actually," Maya explains, "It looks kinda like a high school year book. Each name has a picture and a description."

"Well, it may take a while," I groan, "But we can just match the pictures with the statues we see in person. We'll use process of elimination to see which one is missing."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get started!"

\---(Music End)---

_April 12th, 9:28 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Atrium First and Second Floor Balconies_

It was more of a mental exercise, but it was some physical footwork as well. Maya and I have worked up a bit of a sweat. "Well, we've counted all the ones here. Which one is missing?"

Maya looks puzzled. "Well, there are actually a few missing!" she announces to me, "The booklet I'm reading is actually dated for _next_ month, it looks like. They might be listing a few pieces which haven't actually arrived yet."

"Well, there's a thought," I agree, "Either way, narrowing it down to even a small handful of possibilities will help us."

\---Music: [ Logic Trinity ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQpdHIaIe-4)\---

"Alright, here it goes!" Maya cheers, "I'll make sure and mark the ones in the book as I go along."

Everything she is about to say, I'll be sure to keep a record of. I'll likely be using this **Atrium Exhibit Guide** as reference in court, after all.

  * _David_ , a painstakingly accurate recreation of one of the most legendary statues in history, originally crafted by the famous artist Michelangelo.
  * _Jeanne d’Arc Vaillante_ , a stylized depiction of the world-renown French saint Joan of Arc holding her sword in the air triumphantly for her faith and country.
  * _Perseo Trionfante_ , the hero from Greek Mythology who used his wits, the reflection of his shield, and his sword, to defeat Medusa the snake monster, holding her severed head.



"Aaannnddd... that's about it," Maya concludes, "Those are all of the statues that are missing, at least."

"Nice work, Maya," I grin, "three statues is much less than thirty or fourty! This will help us immensely."

\---(Music End)---

"Should we check the other floors, too?" Maya suggests, "With how big this place is, some of these missing pieces may just be around on a different level, somewhere."

"That's not a bad idea," I concur, "We may as well give things a look and take some more pictures."

\---Music: [ Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4CEqQO7Has)\---

So, it's up to the second floor balcony next. "So, what does the pamphlet say about this level?" I ask Maya.

She seems to have the exact page pulled up already, and she even uses a funny voice as she quotes the writing as if she were a carnival announcer. "'Witness the most talented and unforgettable works of art from the greatest minds in history, and artifacts from a time long past! From Ancient Greece and Rome to modern day, please, enjoy our Western Art section!'"

Hmm... this section looks a lot less like a marble gallery and much more like a traditional museum. There are lots of podiums protected with glass housing various oddities, and a few larger objects are out in the open such as pottery, some sort of metal shield, and some ancient weaponry. There are some paintings lining the walls, and there are other various sculptures and such.

"There doesn't seem to be much here that would be relevant to the case," Maya reasons.

"I'll snap a photo of this floor as well, just in case," I say. Just like before, I'm careful to frame the entire area above the crime scene within the shot. I take a photo and add it to my growing collection of **Balcony Photographs**. 

"So, the third floor, next?" Maya asks.

"Yep. Let's keep moving."

\---(Music End)---

_April 12th, 9:35 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Atrium Third Floor_

Here we are again, this is where all of the craziness started yesterday. The third floor doesn't have nearly as many pieces on display, and is pretty bare-bones. There are a few doors, including the one to the office we sat in yesterday--the office with the sealed door which previously hid the Orb we were seeking. "Does your booklet have a description of this floor?"

"It seems this area is mostly for navigation," Maya begins explaining, "Most of these doors and paths lead backwards into various tour routes. The idea is that no matter which tour path you take, you end up entering the atrium. So there are some miscellaneous things like a wax museum on the side opposite of the curator's office, and some other things. But those areas aren't even part of the atrium, they lead back into the other buildings of the museum."

"If that's the case, I doubt they'd be relevant to what we're looking into," I consider, "And it would be way too much ground to cover, anyway."

"Should we at least take a picture of this floor?" Maya asks.

"I'm a bit hesitant to do that," I admit, "It's likely Akira did go through this area and into the office, and I don't want to accidentally find anything incriminating..."

Maya looks to the side in thought. "Man. Who'd have thought that trying to hide the truth would be so complicated? The prosecutors you fight in court make it look so easy!"

The point she makes is decidedly poignant. "That aside, we should check out the office itself, next. "This is the last area we really need to inspect as far as this whole debacle is concerned."

"Yeah, definitely," Maya nods, "But how come there's no police tape or anything?"

"I don't think the police even searched this area," I infer, "I doubt Hebi would have mentioned anything about the Orb, or his personal collection, lest he bring suspicion on himself and his moonlight dealings."

"Well why the heck are they charging Akira with theft!?" Maya argues.

"I'm not sure," I admit, "I don't know what else would have been reported as stolen."

"I see," Maya speaks as she moves right along to the next topic, "Well, Akira said he left the office unlocked last night." 

Sure enough, Maya jiggles the doorknob and the door creaks right open.

"Alright, then," I smile, "Let's get in there and see if there's anything else we need to know about before tomorrow's trial."

_April 12th, 9:38 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Curator's Office_

It's the same office as before, and it seems as if nothing has changed since we were last in here. Assuming Mask☆DeMasque and Akira went in here last night, they both must be equally skilled at infiltration. I can't see any signs of entry at a glance.

Maya recalls a request from earlier. "I think Akira asked us to look through the drawers of the desk for some documents, didn't he?"

I nod and get right to it. I shuffle through the various compartments on the desk, but none of them have anything in them. "Hmm. That's odd. Was he certain there was something in here?"

"I'm not really sure," Maya replies softly, "He just wanted us to check. Maybe it was just an assumption there'd be something. Or maybe the curator took out whatever was in there already."

"Nothing I can find, at least," I return, unfortunately. I close the drawers back up and walk towards the door at the corner of the room with the number pad in front of it. "So, there's just one last place to check..."

"Ooo! Let me do it! Akira gave us the passcode to unlock the inner stash. Still, I think we would have guessed it anyway... I can't believe it's just, '1, 2, 3,' of all things!"

She taps the buttons for those three numbers, in that order, and the keypad blinks with a green light and I can hear the lock mechanism release. 

We walk into a room that is... quite a bit larger than I expected. I was imaging something like a walk-in-closet-sized area, but it's more of a second room adjacent to the main office. It's about the same size, though the walls on two sides are covered with what look like library shelves. Those are probably where he keeps his treasures. There's also a small table at the back of the room with a briefcase in it.

I think for a moment on what our objectives are before moving forward. "So, we know that the Orb was in this room. I bet we'll find a calling card in its place, though."

The two of us approach the table with the briefcase, since that seems like the most obvious place to check. Sure enough, inside of the case, we find **Mask☆DeMasque's Calling Card** just as expected. He always leaves one of these green little slips with his emblem on them whenever he steals something. I add it to my evidence, since Ron's actions will inevitably be important in the trial tomorrow.

"The real question," I further, "Is if there's anything else important we can glean from in here."

"I'm curious if this door we just unlocked is the only way into this room," Maya tells me, "Because you would think Ron and Akira would have run right into each other at some point."

"That's a good question," I agree, "We could give it a quick check."

Maybe it's all of the phantom thievery, but my first inclination is to look for any kind of ventilation shafts big enough to climb through. Those always get used in movies and such, right?

\---Music: [ Logic Construct ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-06hIfWzzOU)\---

Maya draws my attention with a call. "Hey, Nick, there's a vent on the ceiling over there. Think that may be what Ron used to get inside?"

Looks like she had the same idea. The vent is over by the corner of the room, and I approach it to stand directly under it and look straight up. "Hmm... it's a little on the narrow side. It'd be a really tight fit for a person..."

"Well, this IS Mask☆DeMasque we're talking about," Maya reminds me, "The guy is skilled enough to make himself look like he's flying! Or, maybe he actually IS flying! He's never let things like reality or physics stop him before!"

I can't even really argue with that. No one really knows how he does what he does but he, himself. Not to mention, the grate covering the vent entrance has had its screws loosened as if it was put back on in a hurry. I can pull it off with little more than a tug, and see directly up the empty tunnel. "Ok then, let's just assume he somehow made it through here. The question then is, where does it lead to? It's goes pretty high up, from what I can see."

Maya comes to stand where I was and takes a look herself. "You're right about that. would it lead back into the regular ventilation system?"

"There's no telling which direction it goes," I admit, "I just see the same silver metal from the top so it doesn't lead directly into the roof, it has to change direction somewhere."

"Well, only one way to find out! Nick, give me a boost!" Maya requests.

I blink a few times. "Wait, what?"

"Ron's kinda small, he's about the same size as me! Just lift me up and I'll see if I can climb up and find out where the path leads!"

She climbs onto my shoulders before I can even protest. "Please, _please_ don't fall, Maya," I caution.

From this vantage point, her upper body reaches into the vent shaft. From here, she alternates between putting pressure on her arms and her legs while wiggling and slightly pulling herself up with each movement, almost like an inchworm or something. It certainly DOES go a long way up, probably a good ten or fifteen feet. "Nick! I reached the top! Do me a favor and go back out to the balcony really quick, I think the path might lead there!"

Well, let's see where the path takes her.

_April 12th, 9:42 am_

_Sniffsonian Museum Atrium Third Floor_

Upon walking on the balcony again, I realize that because the atrium's glass ceiling is so high up, the walls of the building itself actually go fairly high up as well to support it. I even notice... a vent! Right near the top of the wall where it meets the glass! Sure enough, the vent cover jostles and pops off, and I see Maya's head wiggle out from inside. "Looks like we found how Ron got in here!"

"That's pretty wild," I call out so she can hear me from down below, "I would have never seen a vent all the way up there!"

"Maybe... maybe Ron saw it while he was flying?" Maya suggests.

I hadn't really considered how Ron could have entered the atrium in the first place... "Now that I think about it, using a rope to enter through the glass ceiling would be a very flamboyant, phantom-thief-y way to enter without setting off an alarm. And from that height, he could have noticed the vent, definitely."

"Well... that answers that question," Maya nods with content, "The next question is... how do I get down?"

It takes a bit of effort, stacking a chair atop of a table, a drop of faith, and a precariously risky catch... but we're eventually able to get Maya back to the ground. She makes sure to return all of the vent grates to the way they were so as to make it look as if it was never tampered with. Considering we're supposed to be allying with both of the two suspects in this theft, we may not even end up bringing this little passageway to the court's attention at all. Just in case, I make sure to take my third and final of the **Balcony Photographs** to add to my evidence. There isn't much to frame in the shot other than the hard-to-notice vent high atop the wall.

I am aware that I'm really going to be twisting things in court in order to try and protect Akira, and it's not something I'm at all comfortable with. But, there is a bigger picture here, and the words of Mia and Arsene both still ring in my ears. I shouldn't be worrying about this, however. What I should be worrying about is trying to figure out what happened on the ground floor so we can find out who really committed murder last night. I know for fact that it wasn't Ron and it wasn't Akira. 

Solving one mystery while attempting to divert attention from another... this will be tricky, but it's our only option now.

_To be continued..._

\---(Music End)---

\---Music: [ Jingle ~ That's All For Today ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f10LFrjzM30)\---

_Would you like to save your game?_

_Yes No_


	2. Chapter 5-2: The First Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Downright bizarre murders are happening around the world, and whoever is responsible for them could be the most dangerous foe yet. This person likely has a personality which embodies the strongest arcana of all, The World. Through their ambitions on a global scale, even the state of the Velvet Room isn't safe, and Igor himself is only in control of a small fraction of it at this point. The rest of the Velvet Room has transfigured into an opera house where shadowy villains perform their pieces, giving Akira his first clues as to their true motives. The Velvet Room may be the location of the opening acts to the greatest play to ever be performed on the world stage.

_April 12th, ??? pm_

_???_

\---Music: [ Trial (AA4) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvKBjzpyxlU)\---

My eyes open and I awaken within my own dream, once again drawn to the intoxicating gravity of the deep and mysterious blue room. I'm in... a sitting position, in a chair. My head feels light, and focusing feels difficult. However, the world around me is very crisp, and clearly defined. There's no longer the sense of foggy mirage surrounding me like the last few times I've visited. My intuition is telling me that I'm not in Igor's "backstage" at this moment.

To describe it most quickly, I would have to say that I seem to be inside of an incredibly distinguished opera house--painted with the familiar blue tone signature to each Velvet Room before it. There are hundreds of seats surrounding me. There are two aisles for walking, as expected of such a theater, and seats line the walls on the opposite sides of those gaps between seating. The fabric of the chairs is extremely luxurious and, fittingly, made of blue velvet. The structural skeletons of the seats are decorated with pristine metal which is most certainly black, but shines with a luster which reflects a bright white. The frames seem... animated, almost. Like the metal is striped both black and white, with the stripes moving slowly and rhythmically like those of Western barber shop poles.

In front of me is a massive stage, with velvet curtains of the same design as the chairs I sit in and the carpet at my feet. Despite the establishment exuding a sense of archaic class and authenticity, there are many traces of modernization. The stage itself isn't wood, for instance, nor is anything else around. There's common material shared between the wall of the platform the stage is upon, the stage floor, and the very walls themselves. They all cleanly reflect the blue hue of everything else quite smoothly, leading me to believe they are metallic. And, as an even more modern display of technology, there are stage lights on the sides of the curtains. I also see metallic fixtures above the top of the curtain rail and can vaguely see lights hanging from above as well. It's a seamless mixture of historical elegance with contemporary production vales which has spared no expense. If this were a real world location, I would be floored by the sheer grandeur of such a place. 

The building itself is obscenely large. The ceiling must be hundreds of feet high; so high up that the walls eventually just fade into darkness. As I look up I may as well be gazing into the black of a starless night sky. On both walls leading upwards, there are dozens of small, cave like balconies. They are private viewing areas for esteemed audience members, just as you would imagine from a historical theater. There's so much space implied for others to sit and view from in all directions, that it feels bizarre and almost uncomfortable to hear virtually nothing. No chatter from patrons, no rustling from behind the stage; I almost feel a desire to hear ANY kind of noise beyond just the cavernous echoes of my own movements.

\---Music: [ The Poem of Everyone's Souls ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8K9mYo81jM)\---

I hear a voice which is most certainly Igor's. "Is this seat taken?" he asks politely, with a brief fit of a few laughs.

"So, if we have been visiting the backstage up to now," I begin, "I can assume we're in the audience of the actual stage that the Velvet Room has become, is that right?"

"A conventional observation, and a correct one," he confirms as takes his seat in the chair on the left of me, crossing one leg over the other to get into a comfortable posture. "Do not fret over your lack of an invitation. The letter I received had two tickets, so consider yourself my 'plus one,'" he jokes.

No matter how I look at it, there's no one else here but the two of us. Igor's grin is telling me that the novelty of the situation is amusing to him, and that he's willingly playing along with this strange theater motif going on.

"I see you've taken a seat at the furthest end of the room," he states. Sure enough, as I lean my head back, I lightly tap against a wall directly behind me. Apparently this whole time I've been sitting as far from the stage as possible. I hadn't put any thought to it until he pointed it out, I had assumed I was seated in the very center of the auditorium. What a... bizarre, and jarring, change in perspective. I think my sense are being tamped with by this room, somehow. I certainly feel a little dizzy. 

Igor continues looking forwards towards the stage with an air of expectation one would expect from an audience eagerly awaiting a show. "As you are well aware, space and time have no meaning in the Velvet Room, even in its normal, stable state. That will always remain a fundamental truth. So, with the room this twisted and unbound by outside influence, all I can suggest is to not get comfortable in any one spot. Your physical presence here is... something presently being negotiated over between your state of mind as well as the Velvet Room itself."

I'm not sure what he means, and I'm not sure if I can concentrate much at all like this. I'm still trying to recover from feeling like I've teleported. Now that I think about it, the stage really is quite distant, so perhaps I was sitting in the back from the beginning after all.

I suddenly hear a new voice, which sounds refined and mature. "From what I have been told, such a vantage point almost suits you, Trickster," the voice comments. I turn to see a woman standing in the aisle with medium length silver hair and golden eyes like other Velvet Room inhabitants. She has a blue headband, a long blue dress, black leggings, and blue high heels. Her look gives the impression of a studious, business oriented style of personality. 

"Ah, Margaret. Welcome, welcome. Come, join us," Igor invites pleasantly.

As she speaks, she turns sideways to scoot carefully through the row of chairs in front of me, taking a seat in a spot near us. "As you wish, though I must agree with your inference that such seating will be temporary."

"Ever the analyst," Igor chuckles, "Do tell us what your observations are."

"On which subject, Master?" she asks with a composed, professional tone, "There are a number of matters at hand. Shall I start with the room itself?"

"Such a starting point would be grand," Igor smiles.

"No single force could possibly hold such a sway as to change the Velvet Room itself. I believe multiple influences are shaping and molding the current state of the Velvet Room. Shall we say, it's very clear to me that there are a number of factors in this theater at play."

A new voice enters, one that I can acutely describe as, well, spunky. "A ha! That was a good one. I didn't expect you to start making jokes," another woman introduces. She also tiptoes into the row of seats in front of me and sits next to Margaret.

"It is good to see you in attendance, Elizabeth," Igor claps. 

Elizabeth is of similar build to Margaret, with the exact same color scheme of hair, eyes, and dress. She wears a blue hat and blue boots, and has a much shorter haircut, but gives off an air of amiability. "I must say, I am impressed to hear a pun from you, Margaret."

Oh, I get it. Margaret's delivery was so dignified and nonchalant that I didn't even realize the double meaning. The delayed realization makes it a bit funnier that such a serious looking individual slipped humor right past me, and a little humor helps in clearing this woozy feeling I keep getting.

Margaret closes her eyes and smiles lightly. "With a theater setting such as this one, I thought it topical to dabble in comedy. Plus, I've taken a liking to wordplay."

Elizabeth snickers. "Well, better comedy than tragedy, if you ask me. But it seems more likely that things will turn to the latter, soon. There's something very off about this room."

"In my opinion?" Margaret offers, "I believe that this entire location is very disingenuous right now."

"In what sense?" Igor leads. Knowing him, he already knows exactly what is going on, but he's not the type to be straightforward with explanations, so it's up to his attendants to clarify. "What could be insincere about such a grand house of the arts?"

Margaret continues explaining. "Arts are, as I have been learning, a form that requires inspiration just as much if not more than talent. Passion, desire, expression... all of these things are very important elements that this room is lacking."

"To summarize, this room doesn't have heart!" Elizabeth condenses.

"Precisely," Margaret nods, "It's certainly not the place of high society as it purports itself to be. Notice how there are no artistic fixtures. Most theaters of this scale would have glorious statues lining the walls, or perhaps an orchestra serenading patrons with music. Notice how there are discrepancies in structure as well, as if the balconies are a different style than the chairs, which are a different era of design from the stage itself, which is completely out of place. In short, there's no emotion. It's very deliberate and mechanical. It's as if someone with no concept of art or expression were to be told to try and imitate those qualities."

"Like I said, no heart! It's all cerebral, from the mind!" Elizabeth once again paraphrases, "And you can trust that my sister is more qualified than anyone to make such a declaration."

"I shall take that as a compliment," she returns with a subdued tone of amusement, "Though, I am still expanding my horizons, mind you."

Igor has a similar style of soft laugh and sense of humor. "A dichotomy between the 'heart' and the 'mind...' I wonder where we have heard that before, Trickster?"

All the talking has been helping me to collect my thoughts, and I feel my thoughts are a little more clear than before, enough for me to make an assessment. "So there's no question that the Orb of Mind is behind this, and whoever wrote your 'invitations' is in possession and control of it?"

"Bingo!" Elizabeth cheers. 

"I see you've been doing your homework, Elizabeth," Margaret muses, "Though I'm afraid just the power of an Orb alone would not be enough to shape the Velvet Room itself. That the Room is being effected this strongly in the first place is completely unheard of."

"Recall our earlier discussion of the last Arcana," Igor reminds me.

"That's right..." I recollect, "The World. The most powerful Arcana. Does this mean that we should believe that our mysterious director has control over that Arcana?"

"I'm certain you know of the meaning behind the various Arcana," Igor begins, "And how The World, fitting to its imagery, holds literal and symbolic gravity. In the way of representation, The World can be interpreted as wholeness. Absoluteness. Some even suggest complete enlightenment to be connected to it. It is the last and final Arcana, and the summation as well as the surpassing of all those before it. It is very much its own namesake. The World itself. Anything and everything."

"In its symbolic, natural meaning, The World is the end of a long journey," Elizabeth adds, "And it is suggested that it may even be the beginning of a new journey as well."

"Indeed," Margaret nods, "And several guests before you have played The Fool, taken their journey, obtained The World, and called upon its power to reach their greatest heights."

Igor has an observation of his own to present, it seems. "This brings quite a memory to mind. That in your most triumphant moment you called back upon your own power of The Fool rather than The World should have been our first clue that your journey was not through," he continues to laugh quietly. "You certainly are a unique one, Trickster."

Margaret comes in to clarify. "The Arcana are, at their core, the journey that The Fool takes. You have met each of the Arcana through alliance and friendship, and slowly came to an understanding of each one."

"But now you have to grasp the difference between understanding and being," Elizabeth chimes in, "Consider how you've reached understanding of and taken use of the Arcana, versus those individuals you met who _were_ the Arcana."

"Precisely," Margaret leapfrogs, "Those who not only represent the values and meanings of an Arcana, but are virtually avatars of the Arcana themselves."

"This is a lot to process," I admit, "But if I'm understanding correctly, you're telling me that having access to an Arcana is not the same as _being_ that Arcana?"

"That is exactly what we're talking about," Elizabeth speaks decisively, "We're thinking that there is someone out there whose existence itself resonates with that of The World. Everything about them, from their personality, to their ambitions, to their thought process... they would all be on a scale completely different than anything else you've ever tried to comprehend."

Margaret closes her eyes stoically. "And the most frightening thing to consider would be that a person with the strength of will of The World at their very core is the one in possession of the Orb of Mind, a similarly-influential relic which is essentially one half of the Metaverse as you and your friends knew it. A combination of two such unmatched sources of power is the only theory I can reach as to how something or someone could be powerful enough to affect even our Velvet Room."

You know, I'm actually not as intimidated by this premise as I should be, to be honest. "Doesn't this work in our favor?" I suggest, "Both Niijima-san and Akechi represented Arcana themselves, and were at points enemies to me. In both instances, by reaching a full and true understanding, they eventually become true allies... doesn't this mean that our enemy in this scenario might be someone I could reason with? Or, even still, shouldn't the gift of The World Lavenza bestowed on me give me inherent understanding or enlightenment like you said?"

"Not so," Igor denies, and for the first time since I've met him, he's actively frowning. "I promised to return to you with more information on your relationship to The World, as we mentioned in a previous conversation as well. I regret to inform that your connection to the Arcana of The World has been severed."

"Wait, what? How??" I question, almost frantic.

"You even mentioned both of the two reasons just a few moments ago," Margaret interjects, "Goro Akechi and our sister, Lavenza."

Now I'm just puzzled. "What could those two have to do with one another?"

"Hate to break it to you," Elizabeth speaks with remorse, "But both of them are links which have been cut from the journey you took."

"I... don't understand," I concede.

Margaret takes explaining upon herself. "Those two--or rather, three, at the time--were integral parts of your understanding of the Arcana. Goro Akechi, the man you knew as Justice... we aren't certain what has become of him. Whatever his present state may be, he is no longer in your life as the avatar of Justice with which you formed your bond. As time has passed, without him, the Justice you came to understand and acknowledge has weathered away like sand in the wind."

This is leaving a sour taste in my mouth. Now my discomfort is not only mental, but physical as well, as the pit of my stomach churns. Akechi... ours was a roundabout path. I had thought we had reached a true friendship at the very end of things... but the Velvet attendants are right. Life has gone on without him, and I strangely feel as if I can understand what they mean when they tell me that his presence has somewhat faded from my mind.

"And our other sis, Lavenza," Elizabeth jumps in, "Isn't the same as the two who formed your Strength Arcana. Though Caroline and Justine were simply Lavenza separated into two different entities, the same core concepts or values of Strength that they represented are not the same. Lavenza is, at the end of the day, a different person with a different personality from those two. The whole Arcana thing can be picky like that."

I suppose that makes sense as well. Lavenza was, for most of the time I had known "her," split into Caroline and Justine because of the sinister plotting of a being who also once tried to manipulate the Velvet Room. And those two were definitely characters, alright. Two haughty and hardened prison wardens with strict expectations and even stricter policies on life were completely different from the mellow and polite girl they were split from.

Igor nods, still frowning slightly. "So, we can surmise that your bonds have been partially broken from what they once wore. Because the path you used to once reach the world is now incomplete, so too is your connection to The World... you are no longer able to access it."

"It's not like I got a chance to do much with it in the first place," I scoff sarcastically, not at Igor, but at the situation.

"Ha," he laughs, "Even in the face of such danger and obstacles, you still hold true to your rebellious spirit. This is where my hope lies, Trickster."

I raise an eyebrow. Margaret sees this and addresses it. "What he's saying is: you in the unique role of the Fool, with the even more unique disposition of a Trickster, should be able to repair those bonds. If you can find replacements for Strength and Justice, that is."

"That's... a tall order," I admit, "Finding and coming to trust two people as deeply as I have with the other Arcana would take time, and some luck, possibly."

"It is a task that our Master considered you to be up to," Elizabeth compliments, but I get a cold feeling as she continues, "However, he isn't so sure right now."

\---Music: [ Recollection ~ The Light and Shadows of the Film Studio ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEnD93WJwoc)\---

Now that's a blow I didn't expect to take. "What do you mean?"

"Come, now, Elizabeth," Igor scolds, still with a hint of playfulness which makes the mood even more polarizing, "Don't tease him. Do not misunderstand our intentions, Trickster. Margaret, would you care to explain?"

"Certainly," she nods calmly, "And rest assured, our--and your--issues are not things which we lack the ability to resolve. If I may, I would like to return to the very first comment I made here, today. About the location you are sitting."

In the center of seats, but with my back against the far way, as distant from the stage as possible. "You said this point was fitting for me, right? What was that about?"

" _Almost_ fitting, as I recall," she rectifies, "We passed through the conversational topic of the state of this room briefly, and how it is a machination of the Mind. Our Master also touched upon the malleability of this room due to the instability of it. So, now that we have discussed the part you play in all of this, allow me to combine the subjects."

Well, I'm certainly listening. I await her further explanation.

"This location is a reflection of the mind, to an extent. I will go so far as to say that the seat you woke up in is an echo of the state of you own mind. It's almost fitting in the sense that you are perched like an eagle at the very back, able to see anything in any direction. This goes along with your keen mind as a tactician; your natural leadership and desire to be in control of a situation. Both are integral to your existence as a Trickster. They are what make you, you. And those skills and abilities will be necessary to compete in a battle of wits against this very powerful and intelligent enemy. But, there is doubt in you right now. Whether or not this is truly the place you want to be, is a mystery even to yourself."

Elizabeth once again adds more digestible subtitles to Margaret's thorough talking points. "When you can see everything and look towards everything, what exactly is it you are looking for, and how much do you actually see?"

She points her gloved hand towards the stage, which I'm realizing is actual extremely far from us. "The whole point of this little charade of a theater, the whole goal of your mission, is that stage up there. But you're as far as possible from that goal."

There's a paradox here that I can't get. "How am I supposed to get closer to the front if I'm supposed to still be in a place that can see and react to everything? I'd lose my vantage point."

"Is it really a vantage point?" Elizabeth counters, "Can you even _see_ the stage down there from where we are?"

Igor chuckles under his breath, but doesn't say a word. Margaret speaks in his place. "You do realize that, even if you move forward to reach a better view, you can turn your head around and look back, correct?"

I feel like there is some sort of metaphor to this whole seating thing that I'm supposed to be understanding, but my mind is still foggy, so it seems more like these three are just messing with me.

"Let me put it this way, Trickster," Margaret addends, "It seems clear to me that you are afraid to move forward because you are complacent where you are. You've made peace with your place, even though where you want to be requires going forward, and having the courage to look back on where you've been. Of course, I mean in this warped Velvet Room, but even further, I mean in life."

I'm... starting to get it.

"You've had it rough, we get that," Elizabeth admits, "And it's pretty terrible that even after saving humanity, all you've gotten for it is judged and condemned for trying to earn a future for yourself. And for that reason, your mind probably feels like waaay at the back of the room, where you're out of everyone's business, could be the right place for you. So, as long as your state of mind is determining your location in this wacky room, this back row is where you'll keep ending up."

Margaret hums a single laugh. "The human mind truly is fascinating. However, this is not how the state of affairs should be."

"We've seen people like you come and go, each one of them special in different ways," Elizabeth states, and she seems almost romantically nostalgic, "And each of them overcame demons to reach their own happy endings. It has always been our role as attendants to our Master, to aid and assist those who are on the path of The Fool, to reach those endings. To reach The World at the end of the Arcana, basically."

"Allow me to say it plainly:" Margaret says, turning around and leaning over the back of her seat to look at me directly, "It's painful to see you struggling and stumbling after you've worked so hard towards your own understanding of The World, only to have that victory and enlightenment taken from you. If Lavenza were here... I worry she would be the most upset of us all. Devastated, perhaps."

"Luckily," Elizabeth adds with a cheeky tone, "Theo is probably in the lobby buying her popcorn right now or something. So we better all chin up before they get here, or the whole mood will be even more sour."

Imagining someone as calm and composed as Lavenza getting upset... wow. That's a frightening thought.

"We're not upset _at_ you, of course," Elizabeth elaborates, "We're just upset at the situation, really. This was your show, and your journey. We're the audience, so it's natural we'd be unsatisfied with the Trickster, the hero, sitting all the way in the back seat, when he should be up there taking the stage himself."

"My, my," Igor speaks in a tone as if to compliment, "You two certainly have a way with words. I couldn't have said anything more effectively myself."

"So! Quick refresher!" Elizabeth states, now looking at me as well, and smiling. "You're in a rough spot, and you may have even convinced yourself that you belong here, and have doubt in your head about if there's any way to move forward! But, you can fix that, right? _Riiight?_ "

Margaret seems infected by Elizabeth's pep, and starts to get a little more emotive. "So, instead of casting doubt, we need to cast _you_ as the lead role, once again."

"Ha, more theater puns," Elizabeth whispers with a giggle.

"Unfortunately," Margaret announces, "Until you can return to the stage, you are in the same place as us, and we are nothing more than audience members to this peculiar play to which our mysterious director has taken control over."

\---(Music End)---

The lights begin to dim around us very gradually until we are sitting in darkness, with nothing but the powerful lights illuminating the stage from above and below.

"Shhh!" Elizabeth hushes, "The performance is starting."

"Now this shall be something," Igor laughs with almost aggressive anticipation. This play is a direct challenge to him as the previous owner of the Velvet Room, after all, which is where I imagine his strangely whimsical aura of disdain is coming from.

The curtain rises slowly and, in a way, menacingly. None of us know what to expect, after all.

\---Music: [ Bald Mountain (God Hand) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9kztdg1144)\---

This really is a poor seat to try and view the stage from. I can hardly discern what I'm seeing from this distance. This must be what it feels like to actually _need_ glasses.

I see a single figure on the stage, and it seems to be sitting in a sofa chair. I... literally cannot make out anything about them. It's not that I can't see a form, since I can see their posture and that they are holding a phone to where their ear would be. It's more like, they actually don't have any characteristics. It's like watching someone's shadow. Just a colorless, featureless being. I can't determine hair length, gender, age, or even height since they are sitting down.

As the figure begins talking, I can't see a mouth, either. Even the voice has no recognizable human properties. It's as if if the person is talking through a voice changer, but even more strange sounding. 

"Do you know what time it is?" it begins the conversation, sounding groggy, "I've been seeing the news, and it turns out there has been a tragedy in Koridai... is that what this is about?"

A second voice comes through loud and clear from the phone in the figure's hand, but it too sounds as if the true voice is being masked. "Well, no. But everything went just as we had expected on that front."

"Rant was among the casualties himself, I saw that much," the sitting person replies. Even emotion is a bit hard to parse from these formless voices.

"Like I said, we expected that," is the reply, as if the phone voice has no concern.

"It would have been good to have him as a pawn in the new government, but I suppose this is the best outcome we could have realistically hoped for."

"Sounds like you aren't as confident in your contracts as you were at the beginning of all of this," replies the phone voice. I could definitely hear a chuckle at the end of that one.

"I've made more progress with learning how to use this trinket in a few months than you have in years," the sitting figure scoffs, "Keep throwing stones from your glass house at your own peril."

"Very funny," the voice says in a voice as if the two are bickering over something petty.

The figure in the chair slightly shifts position to get more comfortable. "Let's hear it. What's so important that you called me in the middle of the night for?"

"There's bad news and worse news," the phone voice opens.

"When is there not?" the shadowy figure sighs sarcastically.

"That curator Hebi Hibiki we were keeping tabs on has been moonlighting sales, and all kinds of unsavory folks are bidding on all kinds of junk, including some criminal groups we know of."

"Why do we care what that jackass does with his shit?"

"We think the other Orb may be on the market as we speak, or even possibly already sold," the voice explains grimly.

The person holding the phone makes a brief noise incredulously. "Cht. Figures."

"So, yeah, the bad news is that we don't know if the Orb is still at the museum or not. The worse news is that the poor bastard we sent's dead now."

"What? Aw, shit. You got one of my guys killed? Who the hell was it? It better not have been Wally Ijii."

"It was Translation. Now the whole situation is screwed up--"

"God damnit. I liked him. How the fuck did he die at a museum? What, did security shoot him or something?"

"We don't know, yet. Christ, just listen--the grapevine is telling me they're going to be sending officials from the states to look into what happened. Saying things might turn into an international incident since he was an ambassador."

"I did listen and all I heard was you screwing up. Why didn't you come to me about any of this?"

"Because you're so lax about everything! You know full well I've been the one organizing all of our movements. I've succeeded at everything else up to this point, so cut me some slack. You wouldn't even have that damn thing if I hadn't given it to you. Show some gratitude, will you?"

"You really are the most obnoxious kind of person," the sitting person says back, but then the two voices start chuckling together. "Ah, never change, man. You really liven up this place. Everyone else is so stiff. Though, maybe I like it that way. They don't talk back when they're under a contract."

"Why didn't you put Hibiki under a contract?" the phone voice questions.

"Why would I? He's a nobody, and I didn't expect a random civvie would be stupid enough to try and play us. But... whatever. Just keep an eye on that American investigation team or whatever shit they send over here and just make sure that nothing comes back to us, got it?"

The two voices pause, and the phone voice goes back to a previous subject. "But what about the other Orb? Don't you care about that?"

"Look, I'll be honest. It's useless without the Orb we have. I only wanted to keep tabs on it for peace of mind. Where ever it ends up is of no consequence to me. But I _am_ concerned about whoever killed Austin. Do they have a suspect or something?"

"It's just some punk who was trying to rob the place. But they aren't sure yet."

"What a shitty way to go. I had high hopes for that guy."

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that," the phone voice says in what I assume was an attempt to console the sitting figure.

"No you aren't. You don't have the capacity to feel empathy, ya damn sociopath."

The phone voice cackles. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two voices laugh. "Well, keep me in touch if anything changes. And, if you by chance find out who did in Austin... try and make them pay for me, ok?"

"Now that, I **_do_ ** have the capacity to do."

\---(Music End)---

The curtain closes as slowly as it opened, and the regular lighting returns to the the rest of the auditorium.

\---Music: [ The Poem of Everyone's Souls ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8K9mYo81jM)\---

Igor claps his hands slowly, but in a way that almost feels sarcastic. "Well, that was a... spirited performance, if nothing else. But the exposition was lacking and the plot was hard to follow. And, I hope that our mysterious director hasn't forgotten that a cast needs star power for good publicity."

I know that he's being ironic just to play along with this whole debacle, but I just heard so many details that my head is spinning twice as fast as it was before. With the migraine I'm getting, I can only hope I even remember a bit of all this when I do wake back up in reality.

"Psst," Elizabeth leans back to whisper to me, "Our Master's talking about you."

Margaret adds her thoughts. "If it wasn't clear, our Master wants you to keep moving forward until you reach the stage yourself."

I'm having trouble thinking. I'm just going to listen to hear it from Igor himself.

"Think of that literal stage ahead of us as the metaphorical final stage of your journey," Igor posits with a fatherly, advice-bearing tone, "At the end of all things, you are still the Trickster. You have made a name for yourself and placed a mark on the society you so wished to change. Not only that, but you did it with a dramatic flair more than fitting for a breathtaking performance on this stage of The World. This production needs a star, and there's no better person than you to fill that role."

"Though," he backtracks, "There are others headed towards this stage, too. And, perhaps in time, this story will call for more than just one leading role. One on a different path than your own."

He himself points towards one of the wall balconies. I squint my eyes to try and see what he's talking about. There's... a person sitting there in one of them, actually. Another Velvet Room attendant? I almost didn't notice them because their blue clothes blend in with the rest of the theater. Though, their hair isn't silver, it's black.... and they seem to be sleeping soundly.

Igor takes a big sigh as seems a bit more relaxed. "So, Trickster. In summation: we need you to, quite literally, steal the show."

"It will be the plot twist of the century!" Elizabeth cheers, "No matter how smart or mindful this Directer person is, they'll never see it coming!"

"I suppose that now would be an appropriate time to recuperate in preparation for the next act," Igor laughs softly from his nose. The master and his two attendants begin shuffling as if they plan to get up from their seats.

Elizabeth places her hand on my shoulder as she stands up. "It has been a pleasure meeting you!"

Margaret stands as well and looks at me with a warm, sagely smile. "And, I do hope you find better seats for us for the next performance."

"Until next time, Trickster," Igor bids farewell, and my vision blurs completely, and I give way to sleep.

\---(Music End)---

_April 12th, ??? pm_

_???_

Wow. Weird. Being free in the Velvet Room and waking up in the real world inside of a prison cell feels... backwards. I guess I'll go back to sleep. ACTUAL sleep. I should go ahead and get rest for tomorrow. At this point, all I can do is wait and hope.

_ACT FIVE END._

\---(Music End)---

\---Music: [Victory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjLWGyx4zoA)\---

_Would you like to save your game?_

_Yes No_


	3. Pre-Chapter 6: Recap and Evidence List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add this! It's actually a world of help in a written setting like this one to have a good reference. I will try to have evidence lists for future trials as well, for everyone's sanity including my own...

  
  
\---Music: [Is It Boring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFE8iT1Ll2Y)\---  
  


##  ** Profiles **

  * **Defense: Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Sae Niijima**
  * **Prosecution: Not Yet Known**
  * **Suspect: Akira Kurusu, former leader of the Phantom Thieves.**
  * **Victim: Austin Translation, the mysterious man in a business suit.**
  * Other Key Figures:
    * Ritsu Chitsujo, a local detective.
    * Alibaba(?), our mysterious hacker friend.
    * Hebi Hibiki, the Sniffsonian curator.
    * Yurui Kuchibiru, security guard at the Sniffsonian.
    * Mask☆DeMasque, AKA Ron DeLite, world famous phantom thief.



******  
**

## ** Evidence **

  
**Crime Scene Photographs  
**

> • First Photo:
> 
>   * The scene of the crime as the police arrived. Austin Translation is laying on his stomach, dead. There are chunks of stone all around, but some have been ground down to powder. Ritsu thinks someone may have tampered with the crime scene by crushing parts of the statue to dust.
>   * There is an overturned platform with wheels nearby, presumably what the original statue had been on top of before it fell. 
>   * There are shards of wood around the crime scene, as well. Evidently, there was a struggle, and at some point a nearby easel and painting were broken.
> 

> 
> • Second Photo:
> 
>   * Austin's body on a stretcher. His legs are mangled beyond repair, and the midsection of his suit and body are drenched red. It's clear the statue fell on the lower half of his body.
> 


**  
Atrium Exhibit Guide**

> Contains descriptions of the various floors and exhibits. It is not entirely accurate as some of the exhibits are new and their locations have not been finalized.  
> • Page 1:  
> “Come see a brand new gallery of pieces from the true talent behind the works Ichiryusai Madarame plagiarized! With the identities of the true artists made clear, some of the most famous works of our time have had their honor restored!"  
> • Page 2:  
> “Take a walk through the finest sculpting in history in our statue gallery, spanning the entire first floor balcony!”  
> • Page 3:  
> "Witness the most talented and unforgettable works of art from the greatest minds in history, and artifacts from a time long past! From Ancient Greece and Rome to modern day, please, enjoy our Western Art section on our second floor balcony!"  
> • Page 4:  
> “See wax sculptures so lifelike, you’ll think they’re real! This exhibit is at the edge of our third floor balcony and leads outside of the atrium, back into the main building as part of one of our many tour paths.”  
> • Page 5-9:  
> Alphabetical listing of all exhibits in the Atrium and brief histories and mythologies. Maya and I made notes about any statues we couldn't find in the museum in hopes that it will help narrow down which statue was destroyed.
> 
>   * _David_ , a painstakingly accurate recreation of one of the most legendary statues in history, originally crafted by the famous artist Michelangelo.
> 

>   * _Jeanne d’Arc Vaillante_ , a stylized depiction of the world-renown French saint Joan of Arc holding her sword in the air triumphantly for her faith and country.
> 

>   * _Perseo Trionfante_ , the hero from Greek Mythology who used his wits, the reflection of his shield, and his sword, to defeat Medusa the snake monster, holding her severed head.
> 

> 
> • Page 10:  
> General museum rules. "Turn off flash photography, please," "Only museum staff may touch the art with specialized gloves," and other such guidelines.

**  
Autopsy Report** **  
**

> _Time of Death: Between 9:10 pm and 9:20 pm  
> _ _Cause of Death: Uncertain.  
> _ _-Severe trauma to the head; skull was fractured  
> _ _-Large puncture wound to the abdomen; a sharp piece of wood was found  
> _ _-Intense body-wide blunt trauma; front of body was bruised and both legs were completely crushed_

  
**Broken Phone**

> A phone that the victim had on him when he died. It has been crushed, presumably from the weight of either the statue of the victim himself. It is currently in the possession of Sae, who has taken it to a tech specialist to try and either repair it, or at least extract the data from it.

  
**Destroyed Painting  
**

> A painting near the crime scene which has been broken to pieces. The original painting was very rich in colors such as blacks, reds, and blues. However, those colors have been somewhat smeared and slightly faded.

  
**Balcony Photographs  
**

> Three photographs of the three balconies.  
> • First Floor:   
> A picture showing all of the statues on display on this floor, and there are a few empty spots that look about the size for statues to fit, implying some of the statues are missing or have not yet been put on display.  
> • Second Floor:   
> The floor most closely resembling a regular museum. There are many podiums covered with glass housing various oddities, as well as a few objects that are out in the open such as pottery, a shield, and other ancient artifacts. There are a few paintings on the walls, and other various sculptures.  
> • Third Floor:   
> There isn't much to frame in this shot other than the hard-to-notice vent high atop the wall.

  
**Mask☆DeMasque's Calling Card  
**

> Here we go again...  
> A complimentary card with Mask☆DeMasque's logo on it. Whenever he pulls off a heist, he always leaves one of these cards as his signature to let everyone know that it was Mask☆DeMasque who stole the treasure.

**  
Sniffsonian Article  
**

> A local newspaper which has a cover story about the Sniffsonian Museum, and the missing pieces of artwork. Many of the pieces don't actually belong to the museum, and the art collectors who allowed them to be displayed are upset at their pieces being lost. Museum staff has offered money as compensation, and as a whole has stayed rather quiet on the entire situation. Very peculiar.


End file.
